LJHS Techno Pirates advance to semi-finals on way to 5th place finish

The Lytle Techno Pirates and their robot fought hard all the way to the semi-finals Saturday, but fell just short of qualifying for the state championship, placing 5th out of 14 teams and garnering a 2nd Place judging award.

After three previous meets where Lytle was plagued by technical problems and penalties, the Techno Pirates were problem-free for the majority of Saturday’s qualifier in Somerset. After the final meet, Lytle had made it into the semi-finals with five other teams.

Lytle’s most exciting moment came in the second round during the semi-finals when they faced New Braunfels, the only team that was undefeated in all four Somerset meets. The two teams and their alliance partners fought hard during the two-minute match, utilizing all of their point-scoring mechanisms on their robots. At the end of the match, it was too close for the audience to call. After a few tense minutes of calculating by the referees, the scores were projected on the wall: Lytle 74, New Braunfels 73. It was a thrilling moment for the Techno Pirates team. Unfortunately, they lost in the third round to Reagan and Robert E. Lee high schools and did not advance to the championship. They did, however, come away with a 2nd place judging award for their work promoting robotics in the community and showing school spirit at the event.

Coaches Joe Corona and Jeffrey Salinas did a great job this year preparing the team for this competition and our principal Mr. Dykes went above and beyond supporting our team. We couldn’t have created this winning team without him. Thank you to all the teachers and parents who helped out this year.